1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a valve apparatus and system therefor. More particularly, it relates to a valve apparatus and system for dispensing liquid.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 shows a typical single-keg, system of dispensing beer 10 that is presently used. The assembly includes a source of beer in this example a keg 18 for supplying beer to bars and pubs. The keg 18 is kept in a special cooler room at a specified temperature. The keg 18 has a top 15 and bottom 17.
The assembly 10 includes a high pressure carbon dioxide gas tank 12 that operatively connects to the keg 18 via hose 16. A pressure regulator 14 decreases the carbon dioxide pressure supplied by the tank 12 to that specified by the brewer. This is approximately 15 PSI. It is this lower pressure gas that is fed to the top 15 of the keg 18 over the beer therewithin. A beer supply outlet 21 extends from the very bottom 17 of the keg 18 through a pipe inside the keg (not shown but well known in the art). The beer supply outlet 21 attaches to a hose 23 that is connected to a foam-on-beer detector check-valve 20.
The foam-on-beer detector check-valve 20 is known to those skilled in the art. In this example the foam-on-beer detector check-valve 20 is a foam-on-beer unit known as DFC9500. The DFC9500 is only one of many foam-on-beer units available. The DFC95000 is readily available for purchase at Pacific Beer Equipment Ltd. It is displayed and listed on Pacific Beer Equipment Ltd.'s web site www.pacificbeerequipment.com under the heading of “distribution”. Other technical information for this foam-on-beer detector check-valve 20 is within this site as well.
The foam-on-beer detector check-valve 20 includes a float chamber (not shown), a float (not shown) within the chamber, an inlet 22 and an outlet 24. The foam-on-beer detector check-valve 20 is interposed between the keg 18 and a faucet 26 via hose 23 and a faucet line 19 to prevent the carbon dioxide gas from reaching the dispensing faucet 26 when the keg 18 runs out of beer.
Under the pressure of 15 PSI from the carbon dioxide tank 12, beer inside the keg 18 is forced up the pipe within the keg, through the beer outlet line 21, through the hose 23, through the foam-on-beer detector check-valve 20 and out to the faucet line 19 to the dispensing faucet 26. It is only when there is no more beer in the keg 18 that carbon dioxide begins passing through the beer outlet line 21 and into the foam-on-beer detector check-valve 20. When sufficient carbon dioxide enters the float chamber, the float can no longer float and it drops into its seat at the base of the chamber where a seal shuts the flow of beer to the faucet 26. At this point, an attendant has to replace the empty keg 18 with a full one and bleed the foam-on-beer detector check-valve 20 before beer supply can flow again.
It is preferable however to connect more than one keg to a faucet so that the beer dispensing is not interrupted while the empty keg is being replaced. Currently, at least two methods are being used to accomplish this.
One known method is that of connecting the kegs in series. That is, connecting the outlet of one keg to the carbon dioxide inlet of a second keg and the outlet of the second keg to the carbon dioxide inlet of a third keg, etc. This method is not ideal, primarily for two reasons. First, the more kegs that are connected, the more carbon dioxide gas pressure is required. This makes it difficult to maintain the accurate, carbon dioxide pressure specified by the brewer. The carbon dioxide pressure affects the taste of the beer as well as the beer's foam content. Second, a keg of beer is occasionally spoiled. When this happens, it results in cross-contamination of spoiled beer to the other kegs when connected in series. This requires the entire lot of connected kegs to be replaced, which is costly. The suspension of service due to the system being shut down and thoroughly cleaned and the kegs being replaced, is also costly.
Another known method of connecting kegs together is by relying on conventional solenoid valves. Electric power is required to operate the solenoid valves and the associated control electronics. However power is often not available in a cooler-room. The number of parts and their complexity makes this method more costly. A regular system cleaning becomes more complex and time consuming. This leads to further increased costs and difficulties.
Accordingly there is a need for an improved valve apparatus and system for dispensing liquid that reduces costs, delays, cross-contamination, cleaning difficulties in addition to solving other issues.